The novel catalysts of the present invention comprise metal borides. The use of various boron containing catalysts for the treatment of oils and various aromatic compounds is generally known. U.S. Pat. No. 3,869,521 discloses a process for hydrogenation of aromatics to their corresponding aliphatic structure. The catalyst employed comprises a supported transition metal which has been contacted with a sodium borohydride solution.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,836,452 and 3,796,671 are directed to a process and catalyst, respectively, for the conversion of sulfurous, asphaltene-containing hydrocarbonaceous compounds. The catalyst comprises a boride or borohydride of a metal from Groups IV-B, V-B and VI-B combined with a porous carrier. The process involves heating a mixture of the charge stock and hydrogen in the presence of the catalyst and recovering desulfurized lower boiling hydrocarbons. As an example, a heavy, vacuum tower bottoms black oil, having a gravity of 7.0.degree. API and contaminated by 6000 ppm of nitrogen, 4.0 weight percent sulfur and about 24.0 weight percent of pentane-insoluble asphaltenic materials was treated and converted to a liquid hydrocarbon product having a gravity of 33.8.degree. API, 0.2 weight percent of insoluble asphaltics, 450 ppm of nitrogen and 0.88 weight percent of sulfur.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,632 discloses a process for the preparation of a catalyst that is particularly suited for hydrogenation but which is alleged to be useful in many other reactions such as dehydrogenation, desulfurization, aromatization, dimerization and ammonia synthesis. The catalyst comprises transition metals from Groups IV-B thru VII-B and Group VIII, with iron, cobalt, nickel and platinum from the latter group being preferred, which are activated by an organometallic reducing agent. The reducing agent is described by the formula MR.sub.n where R is aromatic or aliphatic and contains up to about 20 carbon atoms, M is a metal such as lithium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, zinc, cadmium, boron or aluminum and n is an integer from 1 to 3.
In addition to the work reported in these patents, others have prepared and described compounds containing nickel or cobalt with boron in a wide range of stoichiometries. They are known to be as good as or better than Raney nickel for hydrogenation reactions in terms of activity and fatigue resistance. Depending on the method of preparation, these metal borides may or may not be ferromagnetic and pyrophoric in air. There also exist methods for the removal of heteroatoms from oil and other organic liquids but catalysts employed in these processes often effect loss of unsaturation. This can be attributed to non-selective hydrogenation which results in a greater amount of costly hydrogen being used. Thus, none of the art of which I am aware has provided a catalyst and related process for treating carbonaceous liquids such as crude oil or shale oil which removes heteroatoms relatively easily, where the catalyst is not readily deactivated by sulfur and where unsaturation is not lost and which can also be used to treat carbonaceous solids such as coal to produce liquids.